Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Thursday condemned the YouTube video sparking violence against American interests in the Middle East as both “disgusting and reprehensible,” and clarified that the United States government does not support the content of the video.
“Let me state very clearly, and I hope it is obvious, that the United States Government had absolutely nothing to do with this video. We absolutely reject its content and its message,” Clinton stated in a press release Thursday morning. “America’s commitment to religious tolerance goes back to the very beginning of our nation, and as you know, we are home to people of all religions, many of whom came to this nation seeking the right to exercise their own religion, including, of course, millions of Muslims. And we have the greatest respect for people of faith. To us, and to me personally, this video is disgusting and reprehensible.”
Two days after four Americans were killed at the U.S. Embassy in Libya, a violent protest broke out near the embassy in Cairo, followed shortly by similar violent protests in Yemen, Iran and Israel.
Filmmaker Sam Bacile’s video is described as blatantly attacking facets of Islam and making a derogatory depiction of the prophet Mohammed.
YouTube banned the video in Libya and Egypt on Wednesday due to its highly controversial nature in those countries.
In a statement issued to CNN, YouTube described that “this video — which is widely available on the Web — is clearly within our guidelines and so will stay on YouTube. However, given the very difficult situation in Libya and Egypt we have temporarily restricted access in both countries.”
However, the impact of this video continues to be felt as 224 people have been reported injured in protests in Cairo today, according to the Egyptian State Television station Nile TV.
